|
eastcoastromper.com - by: Brodie Holmen
This five-piece hard rock band hails from Charlotte, North Carolina and although some may effortlessly categorize them as a “hard rock” band they are in fact much more than that. It was easy to see why we had their “Let Our Violins Be Heard” album as the unsigned featured band of the month. They have managed to incorporate a myriad of styles into one readily consumable package that defies all logical assumptions about heavy music. They have verified that yes, you can fuse together emo, metalcore, traces of funk, pop and even a modicum of death together. While all these styles do have some basic similarities, it was their approach and they way they constructed the songs that should put them into a class all of their own. A band like BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME plays in a similar fashion but SCAPEGOAT intertwined a basket full of especially infectious choruses with a lemon hint twist of pop and r&b for a sound that is impervious to categorizing. Twisting and turning guitar licks transfer back and forth between deep end, full-on chugging and spacy interlude layering with an occasional ping slapping of the bass. The funky edge comes through clearly but is tempered by sporadic, unhinged rage through hardcore riffs and believe it or not, gracious, poppy choruses. They are all over the board in terms of sound and presentation yet it never once felt disorderly. Instead, it sounded like a brilliantly designed orchestration that spoke volumes about their musical aptitude and their ability to truly think way outside the box. They made the unimaginable possible time and again and songs like “March On” and “Cynical Date” will get you juiced up like after drinking a case of Red Bull although through the duration of the song you will still feel a sense of, dare it be said, bliss. Although the songs at face value are extremely complex, the more you listen to it, the better chance you have of being immersed in their unpredictable transitions and their spastic tendencies. Call it what you will and if you are the type of person that needs to categorize music then consider them as part of the “fucking mind-blowing” category.
Scene 9 Entertainment - Jordan Perili
If you thought they were heading in the right direction before, then the boys of Scapegoat should definitely add some reassurance to your assumptions with the release of their sophomore entitled “Let Our Violins Be Heard”. The guys have recently signed with Raleigh’s up and coming label, Tragic Hero Records. If you’re a fan of hardcore, emo, screamo, post-hardcore, metal, metal core, or any other type of music out there, then you are guaranteed to love this album. It is an assault of guitars, vocals and drums that never stop, not to mention lyrics that will be sure to stick in your head. Don’t be the only one to not own your very own copy of “Let Our Violins Be Heard”.
QUICK SPINS | NEW ON CD | Scapegoat's CD has `live' energy
The members are barely out of their teens, yet Charlotte's Scapegoat is one of the city's most popular live acts. The prolific emocore five-piece repeatedly sell out Tremont Music Hall's Casbah, and "Let Our Violins Be Heard" marks the group's fourth release in five years. The band celebrates the album (on Raleigh's Tragic Hero label) Saturday with a CD release party at Tremont Music Hall, which finds Scapegoat graduating to the venue's 1,000 capacity music hall (7 p.m. $6-$8).
If you've ever witnessed the schizophrenic fury of the band's live show, complete with sudden stops and starts, stylistic musical shifts and vocals that turn from screaming anger to delicate sweetness, "Violins" captures all of that with hearty energy, but with more focus and clarity than busy live settings. Kit Walters' vocals, which range from scary to downright pretty, are more pristine and easy to decipher on the album, as is the intricate guitar work and layered song structure.
Scapegoat straddles metal, math rock, hardcore and emo with a good balance of pop hooks. The mix makes songs such as the disc's opener "March On" and "All in Vanity" easy to sing along with, despite spurts of hardcore confrontation. It's easy to imagine these young, yet experienced Charlotteans sharing fans with the heaviest hardcore or most sensitive emo bands, as well as with groups like the Deftones, whose influence is evident on "Violins." -- courtney devores
Scapegoat gets heard; their music and a brand new album
Charlotte's music scene is proud to unveil the latest creation from one of its most talented bands. "Let Our Violins be Heard," released on Oct. 22 under Tragic Hero Records (Chapel Hill, N.C.), is the third CD from the metalcore band Scapegoat.
Scapegoat consists of Kit Walters (vocals), Justin Driscoll (guitar), Spencer Bensch (guitar and backing vocals), Dan Royer (bass and backing screams) and Dan Hitzelberger (drums). The band takes a serious approach to their music, while laughing through the experiences they encounter together.
Based out of Charlotte, the group formed in 1999 with Driscoll, Royer and Hitzelberger. At a summer music camp, Walters was added to the group and in 2004 Bensch completed the group. With many influences ranging from Justin Timberlake to Tool's Maynard James Kennan, two of their major influences include the Deftones and Nirvana.
Setting themselves apart from the miasma of rock bands, the band also stuck to their original and short name, reminiscent of band names of yesteryear (Hatebreed, Earth Crisis, In Flames). "It expresses more nowadays; how we are treated by many elitist 'scenesters' and people who do not understand the business behind running a band," Driscoll said.
Following "These Cards We're Dealt" (2004), Scapegoat wrote a lot of new songs for their next CD. "We never stop writing. We just needed to get it all out of our system," Driscoll said. "We are also sick of bands charging you (customers) full price for 10 songs or a half hour of music."
Concerning the content of the CD, senior Devin Rosenthal said "It's very diverse; they stay true to their sound."
Choosing the Indie label Tragic Hero Records to release the new CD, Scapegoat joins bands with large followings (Alesana and Your Name in Vain) without having to leave the comforts of family, friends and sticking close to home.
With their new CD out, Scapegoat released a video for the second track ("After Class with Mrs. Brown") which can be viewed through the Web site www.sgoat.com.
Along with the video, the Web site has information on their tours, full band biographies, pictures and news. In addition, the site offers links to sample their songs, the band's online store as well as links to Tragic Hero Records and Myspace.com. Check Scapegoat out, or miss out on one of North Carolina's best kept secrets and most promising bands.
-- Justin McLeod
Divakar (106.5 The End)
You guys rocked! Thanks for being a part of the Weenie...
Divakar (106.5 The End)
"The new Scapegoat cd "these Cards we're dealt" is hot.
The songs are well written and the music is top notch. With the polished production
and mature sound, it's hard to tell these guys are just out of high school! Good things are ahead for this band."
anti-popmusic.com CD REVIEW
Overall - 4.5 of 5.0
Musically - 4.0 of 5.0
Lyrically - 4.5 of 5.0
Sound Quality - 4.0 of 5.0
When I first got this cd, just from judging by their artwork... I'm thinking what is this? When I put in the record and as I listened to the first track and I am thinking the same thing. As I ventured on and continued to listen and then began to believe that this is some of the most unique music I've ever heard and it was DAMN good. I mean, what can youu say bad about this record? Walter' (Vocals) voice matches the music perfectly for this style of music.
From my first second of the song "Dinner For Four", I thought this could be some fast paced emo music. As I listened, I noticed hardcore mixing in but as I kept listening, I noticed a weird undescribable sound that really puts this band somewhere else and is also damn intriguing. Believe it or not, with Scapegoat's "These Cards Were Dealt", they have created a brand new type of music and I don't even know what to call it but its damn settling.
www.emocore.us
These Cards We're Dealt CD Review
This is a tricky and oftentimes dangerous type of music; you know, the kind that mixes lots of singing with screaming. Oftentimes these bands fall into an overused, uncreative mix and are dubbed as “screamo” or “emo-core” or whatever the choice phrase of the day happens to be. They also happen to all sound the same (all those bands in the “sounds like Glassjaw” category, for example). When I first threw this album on, I thought to myself, “Here we go, another emocore album,” and was not really expecting anything original. The more I listened to it, however, the more I realized I was completely wrong. This is not a screamo album or any album belonging to an overused genre whose bands are the only thing more cliché than the genre itself. This is a rock album. Straight-up rock and nothing more; and believe me, it does just that: it rocks—hard.
This is what today’s rock (or hard rock) should be if it wasn’t overly commercialized and so concerned with profits that the music becomes bland and repetitive. In fact, this is one of the best rock albums I have heard in recent memory. It does everything a rock album should without adhering to the boring, steadfast rules that produce terrible bands like Puddle of Mudd or Disturbed. They call themselves “melodic hardcore” or the newly dubbed “romanticore” (do we need more pointless genre titles), and I suppose these are true, but I think of this album as a straight-up hard rock album without all the bad connotations that come with that genre. The music is straight-forward rock. The guitars and bass all are proficient and create an excellent backdrop for Kit Walters to sing over. Daniel Hitselberger, the drummer, is truly a stand-out on the record as well. The drumming here is excellent to say the least: it’s quite technical without being overdone. I definitely enjoyed the drumming on this record, which I find to be lacking in many records, so this is a definite plus. The singing is all well done, and Walters has the perfect kind of voice for this kind of music. His screaming is also very well done and never feels forced. Overall, their biggest strength may be the fluidity with which they play as a band: the music just fits together perfectly and flows together seamlessly, and as a band effort, it’s really well done.
As for stand-out tracks, “Midnite Rendezvous” is an excellent track. It just plain rocks to no end and seamlessly integrates singing with outbursts of screaming. “Denoucement” begins with a beautiful atmospheric part with ambient singing that can only be described as transcendental before it drops in hard and then never lets go. “November” is the softest track on the album, offering up some variety and showing Scapegoat has some versatility in their bag of tricks. This track is everything rock radio wishes it could be; seriously, that may seem as an overstatement, but this track is just beautiful (the inclusion of a cello performed by Jenifer Millis in the background make it even more beautiful). Definitely one of the best rock songs I’ve heard in a while. On the final track of the album, “Lead Feather” Scapegoat show how intense they can be offering up the hardest track on the album that truly impresses with its non-stop energy without seeming forced or overdone. Needless to say, if Scapegoat offers anything, it’s diversity: a song as intense as this could never be accomplished by most rock outfits today, yet they integrate it perfectly into their album.
I truly can’t express how much this album impressed me. I fear this will slide under the radar for most and that would truly be a shame. Everyone should give this a listen if only to renew their faith in music. Out of nowhere, Scapegoat has made one of the best records released so far this year, and without a doubt, the best rock record released this year.
Creative Loafing (12.01.05)
Scapegoat -- Charlotte-based punk/hardcore posse can turn up the heat, bring it down with harmony-infused tunes, and are, incidentally, filming a live DVD with pro-tools audio at this show. Help add flailing hair and skyward punching fists in front of the stage to the DVD. The young band is maturing musically rather quickly and lay down a potent take on hard music. Also on the bill are Swift, Sever the Tie, and Idea of Beauty. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
Creative Loafing (02.18.05)
Scapegoat -- Charlotte punk/hardcore meisters turn up the heat with the CD Release show for their third full-length record, These Cards We're Dealt. Expect plenty of guitar abuse as the musically maturing quartet lay down their take on hard music. This all-ages gig also features Swift and Hell or High Water. Tremont Music Hall (Shukla)
New York International Music Festival
505 East Windmill Lane Suite 1B-155
Las Vegas, Nevada 89123
Director the West Coast: Frank Munoz
Dear Scapegoat:
CONGRATULATIONS! We are delighted that your demo has been officially selected for exhibition in the New York International Music Festival in November, 2003
at Madison Square Garden. We will be organizing a fantastic event featuring singers and bands from all around the world, including Canada, Spain, France, China,
Germany, Brazil, Ireland, England and of course all over the USA. You will be contacted ASAP regarding your time spot for singing at Brenden Theater and to confirm
all other arrangements. We would need to know how long you will be staying at the festival being that we can book you for more than one venue to perform.
Creative Loafing (3.29.02)
Scapegoat -- The ever-improving local punk/hardcore rockers Scapegoat are set to
release their second full length record Element of Design tonight at Tremont, and
they request your presence at the big gala. I'd take them up on it if you like your
music with a bit of a youthful, wink-and-a-nod rebellious edge -- one band member
recently took to the stage with "Justincase must die" scrawled on his chest. The record
was produced by local knob-twiddler Rob Tavaglione, who usually does a pretty bang-up
job. If you're interested, some of the songs are up as MP3s at http://www.sgoat.com/.
With Ten Missing Days and Waiting for Wednesday. Tremont Music Hall (Davis)
|
